Investigate Voltaix's explosion history

Sunday

Jan 26, 2014 at 12:01 AM

Editor, the Record:

As a resident of Knowlton, N.J, I am concerned about the recent explosions at Voltaix Corporation in Upper Mount Bethel. There have been two explosions at this plant over the past year and, since 2008, four explosions at its other plant in Branchburg, N.J.

There is no way to sugarcoat six explosions at the same company. Something is wrong with its safety procedures.

Other than for the workers, my first and foremost concern is for the children at Knowlton Township Elementary School. KTES is two miles (as the crow flies and wind blows) from Voltaix. Additionally, there are sports fields off Potomac Street in Mount Bethel that sit on a hill just above Voltaix.

Parents on both sides of the Delaware need to insist that we have all the information necessary to keep our children safe.

Complacency and lack of oversight recently led to a disaster in West Virginia of tremendous magnitude. Six explosions in two plants demonstrates weak safety standards and processes, and calls into question the company's environmental safety record.

Rather than wait for workers to be hurt and school children to be evacuated, the Environmental Protection Agency should respond proactively and figure out what this company is doing wrong in both states. Voltaix's safety record should be a red flag to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the EPA — marking this company as one that requires close monitoring.

Voltaix plans a large expansion in 2014-2015 that would involve the manufacture of new "molecules": See investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=4038616.

I think it's reasonable to expect that a company with this kind of track record go a few years without an explosion before being granted the necessary permits for expansion.

KIM SCHAD

Knowlton, N.J.

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